


Inside, we’re torn apart, But time will mend our hearts, So let’s just live

by MageOfLight



Series: MSA AUs [2]
Category: Mystery Skulls Animated
Genre: Angst, Arthur and Lewis are childhood friends and did basically everything together, Arthur forgets Lewis instead of Vivi, Arthur loves you you Dumbass!, Kind-of flashbacks, Lewis is the Big Dumb, Mentions of medical shit, Non-verbal Arthur, Spying ghost, Very very broken Arthur, Vivi doesn't remember Lewis dying but remembers him otherwise
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-11
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-16 04:41:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 13,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28700844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MageOfLight/pseuds/MageOfLight
Summary: Instead of Vivi forgetting Lewis, Arthur is the one who forgets. The results have far deeper consequences.
Relationships: (Past) Lewvithur, Mystery & Arthur, Vivi & Arthur
Series: MSA AUs [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2095713
Comments: 46
Kudos: 69





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, I'm here to hurt your hearts.
> 
> Title Lyrics from "Let's Just Live" by Jeff and Casey Lee Williams

Mystery barked, distracting Vivi from her driving for a second, long enough to glance over at Arthur. The blond was staring blankly again, eyes vacant and glazed over. She hated it when Arthur got like this, but there was no helping it. The doctors couldn't explain it. Ever since the cave, where they'd lost Lewis, where Arthur had lost his arm, Mystery's magic the only thing keeping him alive long enough to get to the hospital, Arthur had been broken. The doctors had all come to the conclusion that it had to have been the trama, and Arthur had been in therapy for it, but whenever someone had mentioned Lewis' name or any aspect of his life before that had involved Lewis (joke's on them, Arthur's entire life had revolved around the much bigger man), Arthur would disappear, leaving only a shell.  
  
It was almost like Arthur had died back in that cave, leaving only his body and whatever memories he had that didn't involve Lewis. There was very little left of the Arthur that she knew and loved as a result. It hurt to see, but he'd slowly been rebuilding over the past three years. The Arthur she knew now was shy, nervous, and never spoke anymore, his stutter sending him spiralling into panic attacks. Instead, Arthur had a text-to-speech app on his phone that did his talking for him. Vivi missed when he could sign when he wasn't feeling vocal, but the lack of a left arm put a damper on that, and he blanked out whenever she tried to sign at him. It made sense, though. Learning sign had been Lewis' idea, from what she'd been told when the boys started teaching her.  
  
Sometimes, Vivi wanted to give up looking for Lewis. She knew she should. She should just settle somewhere far from Tempo, maybe take Arthur with her to Japan. Start over there. When he wasn't like this, he was brilliant. He was even working on a robotic prosthetic for himself and had nearly finished, though the process was much slowed by how often he spent as a blank shell. He'd be going in for surgery to install the mount when they got back from their current trip, and it was so cool to think about. In a couple month's time, Arthur would be using the very first prototype for an all-new form of prosthetic and she was so, so proud of him. When it was done and he was living proof of concept, they could go anywhere. It was his brainchild. She'd helped him with filing the patents and everything. No one could steal this from him. Not like he'd had his whole life ripped away in a single night.  
  
And it was her fault. Everything. Arthur's amnesia and lost arm, Lewis being missing. If only she hadn't insisted they go in that stupid cave. But she'd done that. It didn't matter that Arthur had gone on to create something amazing in the wake of his loss. He shouldn't have lost anything in the first place. She bit her lip at the thought, dropping her head for a moment before the van suddenly sputtered, gave a few final coughs, and then died completely. "Oh great... and when Arthur's out of it, to boot..." The blunette muttered, dismayed as she looked over at her companion. Nope, he hadn't noticed the van dying. He'd have already been reaching back for the toolbox if he'd come out of it already. She sighed, wrapping him in a side hug for a moment before getting out of the van. She'd have to try fixing it herself if they were going to get home tonight. Arthur had an appointment at the hospital the next day that he needed to get to. They couldn't be stuck on the road with a broken down van all night.  
  
Only, when she got out, her eyes locked on a huge mansion that she was sure hadn't been there the last time they drove by this road. Mystery barked from inside the van and she startled. "Okay, okay, 'Stree. Not leaving you or Artie behind," Vivi said with a slight laugh as she came around to Arthur's side and opened the door. It was a matter of moments to get Arthur's seatbelt undone, then help the blond out of the van. Like this, he tended to just follow along like a lost puppy, both a blessing and a curse.  
  
Well, at least he wasn't aware enough to be terrified of the spooky mansion? Blessing in this case, as they had no reception this far in the middle of nowhere, and Vivi hoped beyond hope that maybe she'd just taken a wrong road somewhere and this place had a phone they could use to call for a tow truck.  
  
With Mystery leading Arthur by the leash looped around his wrist, The trio made their way up to the mansion. Vivi knocked and the fancy double doors swung open. "Hello?" she called, making her way inside. There was no one there, and as soon as Arthur had cleared the doorway, the double doors slammed behind them with a resounding crash. At the same time, the lights had all flickered out. "...great. Definitely a ghost house and our host is a showboat," Vivi muttered. For once, she really didn't want this. Not with Arthur in no state to run from danger. "Stay close to Artie, 'Stree," she said and Mystery barked in reply. "Good boy. I'm gonna see if I can find the light switch. Hold on a moment." Before she could take a step, however, the lights suddenly returned in the form of flickering candles. And that wasn't the only thing. Multiple pink sheet ghosts popped up. They were adorable and sang at them before making scary faces and lunging. "RUN!" Vivi yelped, grabbing for Arthur's wrist before darting off.  
  
Arthur didn't respond verbally, but at least he was keeping up, only stumbling a little when Vivi yanked him lower to avoid being beheaded.  
  
By the time they'd lost the sheet ghost quintet, all of them were panting heavily from the mad dash and Vivi felt like she was going to fall over. Only Mystery pressing into her legs kept her upright. Well, right up until the floor went out from under them, anyway.

\----

If Lewis had a mouth at that moment, he would have been grinning at how well his plan had worked. He'd lucked out at Arthur and Vivi showing up at his constructed home when they did, but from that point forward, everything had gone just how he wanted and Arthur was trapped in the chamber where he was going to die, alone and scared just like Lewis.  
  
But there was something wrong. Arthur was just sitting there, having not moved from where he landed aside from sitting up, and even that had seemed more like a reflex. His face was utterly blank, devoid of everything. No fear, none of that quiet confidence Lewis remembered. His old friend was completely missing from this... shell that sat in front of him. A shell that was missing an arm entirely, the sleeve of his t-shirt empty. That gave Lewis pause. "Arthur?" Lewis asked, kneeling. Something was dreadfully wrong here and the ghost was determined to get to the bottom of it before he got his revenge on the blond. It wouldn't be satisfying like this.  
  
Arthur didn't respond to the question, so Lewis hauled the blond to his feet via his remaining arm. He'd have to locate Vivi if he wanted to know what was wrong with Arthur, and it was vexing. The whole point of this had been to separate Arthur and Vivi so he could kill Arthur, then return to Vivi's side. Luckily for him, the mansion was constructed entirely by him and followed his whims. If he wanted to find Vivi, he'd find her in seconds.  
  
Keeping a grip on Arthur's wrist, the ghost shifted the house to take him to Vivi and Mystery.

\----

"Arthur!" Vivi yelled, panicking more than a little. With Mystery here with her, the blond was utterly defenceless. They _had_ to find him, and fast. They hadn't gone too far before a door (that hadn't been there before, cool!) swung open and a very, very tall ghost with a skull for a head and flaming purple hair walked through. Behind him, following passively, was Arthur, as blank as he'd been when they'd come in. "Artie! Oh, thank goodness!" Vivi cried, relieved as she ran over. "Thank you so much for bringing him back to me," she said, looking up at the ghost and beaming up at them.  
  
"What's wrong with him?" the ghost asked, releasing Arthur's wrist. The ghost's deep voice was painfully familiar and Vivi stared up at him in shock. There was no way...  
  
"L-lewis...?" she asked. The ghost looked startled but nodded. With a flash of fire, he looked mostly how he did when he was alive. Arthur didn't react. He looked more dead than Lewis did. "You're... you died...? When...?" The thing with Arthur was bad enough, but this was almost more than she could take, tears filling her eyes.  
  
"That cave... you don't remember? I heard you scream..." Lewis replied.  
  
Vivi shook her head. "I... my memory of the cave is pretty shaky at best. The-... the doctors said it was a trauma response, which makes sense if I-... If I saw you die..." she said, voice shaking. "I don't want to remember that..."  
  
Lewis nodded. "That's okay. I wouldn't want you to remember that, either. It was... pretty bad. But... Arthur? Vivi, why is he like this?"  
  
Vivi shook her head. "I don't know. The doctors don't either. They said it was a trauma response, too, but Lew... His entire life was basically taken from him. He can't remember you at all and any reminder of you puts him in this state. We had to move out of Tempo and get a new van. He can't even go home. He never talks anymore, either, and even sign language blanks him."  
  
"...he lost _everything_ to do with me?" Lewis asked, looking back at Arthur, who still hadn't moved. "And the arm?"  
  
"Lost it in the cave. I'm still not sure how I managed to get him to the hospital alive," she replied, looking over at Arthur for a moment before turning back to Lewis. "But-... but you're here! Maybe now we can get to the bottom of this!" she announced, a bit of her spark coming back until Lewis' expression hardened.  
  
"No. I don't want to help him," he said, shooting a slight glare over at Arthur. "As far as I'm concerned, he can stay like this. It's about what he deserves after murdering me."  
  
"...what?" Vivi asked, stunned. Arthur killed Lewis? There was no way. Arthur could be a smug butthead sometimes, but he was such a sweetheart and didn't even have it in him to kill a bug, let alone Lewis. "There's no way, Lew. Arthur loves us. There was no way he'd have hurt you like that," she said, dismayed.  
  
"He laughed as I fell, Vivi. He _pushed_ me. He lunged at me and he pushed me and then he laughed as I fell and lay dying, impaled on stalagmites," he hissed, glaring. "It hurt so fucking much. So let him suffer. It's what he deserves."  
  
"...you've changed, Lewis. And not in a good way," Vivi said softly. "The Lewis I knew and loved would never leave someone like this, even if they were his worst enemy." With that, Vivi reached out and grabbed Arthur's wrist. "Fine. If you won't help, I'll get to the bottom of this on my own. And if it turns out he did push you, I'll turn him in to the police for murder, but I'm not leaving him like this. Come on, Arthur, 'Stree, let's go." With that, she stalked off, dragging Arthur behind her.

\----

"Vi-" Lewis started, only for Mystery to stop in front of him and growl, much deeper than a dog his size should have been able to.  
  
<"Leave it. If you aren't willing to help, then you can stay put right here. But know this, Pepper. The man you've condemned as your killer never wanted to hurt you. He loved you so much that what happened in that cave shattered his soul. That's why he's like this now."> Lewis stared in shock at the dog who was apparently a spirit of some kind himself.  
  
"Since when could you talk, Mystery?" the ghost asked quietly.  
  
<"I can't. Not really, anyway. Though I can communicate with those who are sensitive or spirits like yourself. Vivi isn't sensitive enough to hear my words. Not yet, anyway. Arthur used to be able to hear me. Now he can't. And the sad part is, you could have helped him where no one else could. And you've let appearances cloud your judgement so bad that you've forgotten who Arthur was,"> the dog 'said', then turned and darted after Vivi before she could realize he wasn't following.  
  
Lewis hovered, his facade fading away as he watched the people that should have been most important to him walk away. He wanted to follow, but the look Vivi had given him made him hesitate. She wouldn't want him around if he didn't want to help Arthur. Mystery claimed Arthur was innocent, but could he really believe that? He clearly remembered the look on Arthur's face and the sound of his laughter and the memory hurt almost as much as the betrayal and his subsequent death had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Does Lewis let them leave without going after them, his revenge as good as complete without him having to lift a finger? Or does he get his head on straight and help Arthur like he really should? Who knows (I haven't written anything beyond this so really, who knows. lmao)


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this went from a one-shot to a fic with I don't know how many chapters. Putting my other long fic on hold for this. lmao

Lewis almost let them go, let the trio leave his mansion never to be seen again. At the last moment, he decided he was going to follow them, get to enjoy watching Arthur suffer with the consequences of murdering him. So he followed them out and turned invisible, settling into the back of the van ~~which was painted blue and a completely different make and model than Arthur's old clunker. What had happened to Arthur's beloved van?~~ as Vivi turned the key in the ignition, letting out a relieved sigh as it started. She looked sad as she glanced back at the mansion, but then steeled her expression, resolutely looking forward at the road ahead of them as she stepped on the gas.  
  
The town they came to a couple of hours later was not Tempo. It was probably about three times the size, looking more like a small city than a small town. When she eventually pulled up to a little one-story house in the suburbs, Lewis was even more surprised. "Hey... we're home, Arthur," Vivi said gently, shaking his shoulder slightly. He gave no indication of having heard her and she sighed, leaning her forehead against his shoulder. "Come on, Artie... You need to wake up soon. They'll cancel your surgery tomorrow if you can't sign off on it, y'know?"  
  
Surgery? What was he getting surgery for? Well, he supposed he'd find out tomorrow if Arthur 'woke up'.  
  
The next morning, Arthur was apparently awake. Vivi was laughing as she watched him run around like a chicken with his head cut off, panicking. She didn't bring up the state he'd been in the night before, or the mansion. It was like it never happened and Lewis was kinda irked by it. They couldn't see him (though Mystery kept shooting suspicious little looks over to whatever corner Lewis had tucked himself into), but it was still annoying that she was pretending he didn't exist.  
  
Eventually, though, everything calmed down and Arthur took a deep, steadying breath as he set down a long, narrow case and pulled out his phone. ["Okay, I'm about as ready as I'm ever going to be. Let's go,"] the artificial voice from his phone intoned. Arthur had always hated how those things sounded, had preferred speaking over using a text-to-speech app. Why was he using one now? None of this made much sense.  
  
"Yeah! I can't wait to see how well that thing works!" Vivi chirped, scooping up the case and charging out the door. Arthur's shoulders shook in silent laughter. Curious.  


\----

The hospital was much bigger than any Lewis had been in before, and almost two hours away, even with Vivi speeding slightly. Arthur was nearly bouncing in his seat, clutching the case close to him like a security blanket, though when they got there, he let Vivi take it, trusting. Lewis frowned, following the trio in. It wasn't long before Arthur and the case were whisked off, Vivi and Mystery (who was wearing a service dog vest now. When had that been put on him?) left to wait in the waiting room.  
  
Hours passed, Vivi finding little things to occupy her, including taking Mystery out to go to the bathroom and get food. They'd arrived at 10 am and by the time Vivi was called, it was nearly 8 pm. A dreadfully long time, even by Lewis' new standards. Arthur was laying on a hospital bed, metal jutting out from a mass of bandages on his shoulder. His expression was blank and lacking recognition. "...again?" Vivi asked, dismayed. The nurse that was checking over him sighed, as if he'd dealt with this before.  
  
"Doc said it was likely to occur every time, judging on Mr. Kingsmen's history. It's probably seeing the bandages and being reminded of his old injury. Hopefully, this takes and isn't rejected so we don't have to worry about messing with the port again," the nurse said, then straightened. "I'll go get a mat for you and Mystery."  
  
"Thank you," Vivi said, sitting down heavily in the chair next to Arthur's bed. Once the nurse was gone, Vivi heaved a huge sigh and Mystery whined, putting his head on her knee. "I hate this, so much. Why'd this have to happen? At least we don't need to look for Lewis anymore, huh boy? Maybe this'll happen less often now that we've found that big jerk. Don't need to go looking if we know exactly where to find him," She said, tone bitter. "I can't believe he just... rejected Arthur like that. I'm actually kinda glad Arthur's so broken. Hearing _him_ reject him like that would have broken him." Lewis bit back the scathing retort he wanted to spit, reminding himself that he was spying, invisible to Vivi and Mystery. Arthur had murdered him. There was no deeper hurt than that.  
  
The next several days, Arthur was in and out of awareness, lucidity apparently hard to hold onto, and each instance was harder and harder to watch. To Arthur, the only effect was having to watch Vivi's shaky smile and endure her fussing. No, it was Vivi that was the problem. Arthur wasn't the one suffering. Vivi was.  
  
When the doctor finally gave Arthur the okay to try on his prosthetic, even Lewis was leaning forward, eager to see what Arthur had created. Inside the case was a sleek metal arm, constructed with all the care Arthur had always put into his work. With some help, it was manoeuvred into place, Arthur wincing and hissing as it made contact for the first time. Vivi looked worried, but the doctor seemed like she'd expected it and helped hold the arm steady as Arthur clicked a series of locks.  
  
At first, nothing happened, and then there was a quiet whirring sound of motors kicking to life and the fingers twitched once, twice, three times before Arthur managed to make a fist. His eyes lit up and then he beamed up at Vivi and the doctor, fumbling with his phone for a moment before, ["It works. I can't believe it really..."]  
  
"Yes, well, don't put too much strain on it yet. The port is still healing. That means no lifting anything with that arm. I want you to move it around a bit and only keep it on for an hour max for the next two weeks. Got it?" the doctor said, but she was looking just as thrilled. "After the two weeks are up, you can start keeping it on longer to let your body get used to the weight of it. And absolutely no sleeping with the prosthetic on. Not at all. We don't know how the port will stand up to it, considering this is all new."  
  
["Yes, ma'am,"] Arthur typed, then gave her a cheeky little salute with his new arm. Vivi cheered, launching herself at Arthur to give him a huge hug, laughing. Arthur let out this wheezy little thing that could generously be called a laugh. The doctor was grinning, too. All in all, the room was joyful and even Lewis felt it, the atmosphere contagious.  
  
Once the doctor finally left and Arthur's new arm was safely back in its case (because his shoulder was starting to hurt with the weight of it pulling at the still recovering attachment), Mystery hopped up on the bed. <"Congratulations on the success of your new arm, Arthur. We should celebrate with cake later,"> the dog said, mouth split in a doggy grin. <"...oh, how I wish you could hear me still. I would even take a certain someone over butting my head against this broken wall, even if I'm dreadfully angry at him right now."> The dog lay down on Arthur's lap with a huff as the blond scratched behind his ears, still looking bright. <"I miss you, Arthur. Vivi does too. She can't say it, but she _does_. This version of you is great and all, but..."> He trailed off, huffing a sigh and closing his eyes. <"At least you aren't afraid of me for what I had to do...">  
  
What did Mystery mean by that? Lewis wished he could ask, but he'd out himself in his spying if he did. He almost wished he couldn't hear the dog's quiet 'words'. It felt wrong, like he was listening in on a private conversation, but only hearing half of it. If he had to make a comparison, it was like Mystery was talking to someone in a coma... or perhaps someone dead. And that was it, wasn't it? The Arthur he'd known was as good as dead. The Arthur Lewis had grown up with was gone, leaving behind this... other person, who reminded Lewis of what Arthur'd been like when they'd just met, as vague as those years-old memories were now.  
  
They were only 5 and 6 when they'd met. Arthur's birthday had landed him in an awkward position where he was technically a year older than all the other kids but was in the same grade. Lewis had been new not only to school but to town in general, having just been adopted by his parents after he'd been abandoned with no memory of how he'd even gotten to the Pepper's diner in the first place. Arthur had been the first friend he'd made, two automatic outcasts, huddled together.  
  
They'd been thick as thieves after that. Arthur had a bad stutter that sometimes made him hard to understand, and they'd come up with workarounds for it that left the teachers baffled and unable to understand them half the time. By grade two, Lewis had found a book on sign language and excitedly brandished it at Arthur. Both of them studied the heck out of it, and then Uncle Lance caught them practising late at night when they should have been sleeping during a sleepover at the Kingsmen household. He'd scolded them for being awake so long past their bedtimes, but the next time they'd had a sleepover, Arthur excitedly showed Lewis a pile of tapes, all educational and about learning sign language. Uncle Lance had apparently been pretty proud of their efforts but had recognized that they could only learn so much from books without video aid.  
  
By grade 4, they were both fluent in sign and sometimes went entire days communicating with each other in sign only, giggling over the visible confusion of their teachers. It was a skill that had come in handy when they'd had a deaf kid in class for a few years. Lewis and Arthur (when he was having good days where his stutter didn't bother him at all) traded off translating for the kid, who could read lips, but the teachers weren't all considerate most of the time, forgetting about their deaf student.  
  
In grade five, they'd met Vivi, who's English was perfect, but her accent at the time had led most of her classmates to mock her and pretend they couldn't understand her. They'd met her in the playground, the girl two years older than Arthur and super frustrated by her classes and her classmates. Grade seven, new school, kids who mocked her for her accent and teachers that refused to help her when she didn't understand something for some reason that none of them could wrap their heads around. Arthur, who'd always been smart enough to be super bored in class, had taken to helping her figure out her homework and soon enough, she was joining them for sleepovers and they were teaching her sign language.  
  
By the time the boys moved on to middle school, Vivi and Mystery were solid friends, just as quick to fall into pace with them as they were with her. She had a love for all things supernatural and spending so much time with them led to the formation of an amateur ghost hunting team. At first, it had just been a joke and Arthur had doodled a logo for them and jokingly titled them the Mystery Skulls. The name had stuck, eventually leading to them forming Mystery Skulls Paranormal Investigations when they were all in high school. They pooled their money together to buy their very first ghost hunting equipment and they'd even painted their logo on Arthur's old van and put out fliers.  
  
Their first job had been a "poltergeist" that had turned out to be a stray cat that had moved into an old woman's house because she had rats. She'd adopted the cat and paid them pretty well for their work.  
  
Lewis shook off his thoughts, fighting the urge to sigh as he tuned back into the conversation. Honestly, he missed the Arthur he'd thought he'd known, too. When had Arthur come to hate him enough to push him off a cliff?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lewis, baby... you're dumb. This is the guy that loves you so much his soul shattered when you died. Did you not listen to a word Mystery said back at your mansion? Can someone hit him with a clue bat, please?
> 
> ...hey, Vivi? Where's that bat of yours? lmao
> 
> On that note... Vivi was raised bilingual because her mom was American but she still had an accent because she mostly spoke Japanese before moving to America. Their family uprooted and moved to Tempo because Grandmother Yukino said that was where they needed to be from that point onward. No reason given. She just wouldn't take no for an answer. So Papa Yukino got a transfer to his company's American branch and they all moved. Vivi cried a lot because she didn't want to leave her friends and everything she knew behind her, but Grandmother Yukino rather cryptically told her that she'd meet people who needed her where they were going. She didn't believe it, but now... Arthur needs her and she's already failed her boys and she refuses to do so again with Arthur, even if it meant starting over from scratch with him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A glimpse into the past from Vivi's perspective, including things she doesn't actually remember. Warning for a minorly graphic depiction of Lewis' death.

The cave was super creepy, looking like a gaping mouth and eyes in the side of a mountain. It got her blood pumping. Vivi grinned, the first to hop out of the van, snapping photos as her boyfriends playfully bickered over light sources.  
  
"T-the cave's haun- _haunted_ , Lew! F-flash- _flashlights_ are a t-terrible idea. What if- What if the gh-ghost d-drains the batt-batteries?" Arthur asked. "You're n-normally ex-excited to use th-the torches!"  
  
"It's a cave, though. What if there's methane gasses or something? We could blow up," Lewis replied, worried. Arthur scoffed.  
  
"I l-looked it up. Th-there were tes-tests. Nothing- nothing f-flammable. It's _fine_ ," Arthur insisted, cheerful despite the fact that he was also clearly nervous. Vivi knew the cave probably freaked him out, but the idea of losing their lights in a huge cave made him more uneasy. Or course he'd researched the cave well ahead of time. Vivi might have been in charge of the paranormal research, but Arthur was always on the ball with the safety aspects and making sure their gear was well maintained and batteries stocked. Meanwhile, Lewis' main (self-proclaimed) job was keeping his partners and the dog well-fed and healthy. He was master of their portable kitchen and the first aid kit, always the first to shove food or drink in someone's face and on the ball with taking care of injuries. Gentle giant indeed. Vivi laughed to herself as she thought about this.  
  
"O-oh man... we- we forgot the hard-hard hats," Arthur groaned, pawing through the back of the van.  
  
"It should be okay, Artie. The client said this area was really stable, so there shouldn't be any need for hard hats," Vivi called back. Arthur stuck his head out of the van, a sceptical look on his face. Vivi grinned at him. "And besides... how would you get a hard hat over that mass of spikes on your head?" she asked, teasing.  
  
"H-hey! My sp-spikes flatten out p-pretty good!" Arthur said, mock indignant. "Be-besides. I'm n-not the one wi-with th-the big fluffy pom-pompa- _pompadour_ ," he added, grinning.  
  
Lewis threw a hand over his heart, gasping dramatically. "Are you insinuating something about my hair, Arthur Kingsmen? I thought you loved me!"  
  
"I d-do. Just your h-hair could u-use a tr-trim. May-maybe a buzz cut?" Arthur asked, laughing and obviously joking. Lewis went full drama king in response, crocodile tears and all, and soon enough they were all laughing too hard to even stand upright. Even Mystery was laughing at their antics, wheezy chuffing sounds escaping him that he only made when he was truly amused.  
  
When they finally calmed down, Arthur passed her and Lewis a torch each, lighting them before passing them off. "Thanks, Artie! Well, let's go do our preliminary sweep," Vivi said, pocketing an emf device and her camera as well as a walkie-talkie. Lewis and Arthur each had one as well, the boys clipping their devices to their pants. They nodded in response and together, they all headed into the cave, Arthur clinging to Lewis as his nerves finally got the better of him. Lewis chuckled, patting Arthur's hand in acknowledgement, but didn't comment on it. Arthur felt better about going into scary places if he could cling to Lewis and rarely ever complained about locations. Usually for good reason, too.  
  
Eventually, they came to a split in the path and though Arthur was looking more nervous than ever, he didn't protest when Vivi suggested they split up.  
  
"Great! I'll take 'Stree down this way. You two can go that way," Vivi said cheerfully, pointing out directions. "According to the map, the paths meet up further down, so we'll see you two down the way." She didn't wait for a response, knowing her boys would agree with her, as they usually did. Neither looked like they were going to argue, anyway, so she tromped off down her selected path, Mystery at her heels and torch held high.  
  
By the time she came to the end of her path, entering into a huge cavern carpeted with stalagmites, she was honestly a little disappointed. Her emf hadn't budged from zero the entire time. Maybe her boys had had better luck? Just as she was thinking that, she heard Lewis' voice echo from somewhere above and she looked up. Did their path go up or something? Lame. She'd have to backtrack to join them.  
  
Just as she was about to turn back, she heard a short scream. She froze, spotting something falling. Something purple. "LEWIS!" she screamed, just as he hit the rock spikes. One jutted straight through his chest, his momentum taking him a good four feet down the thing and she screamed again, this time wordlessly, hands flying to her mouth.  


\----

Vivi came to with a soft groan, staring up at the top of the tunnel, groggy and disoriented. Something... what... Her head throbbed viciously and she rolled over, getting to her knees. "...'Stree?" she mumbled, but the dog wasn't there. "Ugh... okay... okay, uh... van... maybe... maybe 'Stree went to get the boys...?" she muttered, stumbling to her feet and backtracking through the tunnel, holding her head. She had to have hit it when she collapsed. Maybe a rock fell on her head or something? She didn't feel like she had a concussion, at least.  
  
Which was a good thing. As she exited her tunnel back to the fork, it was to a horrifying sight. Arthur, being dragged by the back of his vest by Mystery. One of his arms was missing, a long trail of blood behind him. "Oh my god, Arthur!" Vivi cried, rushing over. Mystery whined, letting go of Arthur's vest as Vivi whipped off her scarf. Quickly, she sat Arthur up and set about binding his injury with the long length of fabric, a temporary measure until they could get back to the van. "W-where's Lewis, 'Stree? And Arthur's arm?! If we can get it on ice, maybe it can be reattached!" Mystery whined again at the questions, shaking his head and Vivi let out a frustrated groan, hauling Arthur up onto her shoulder in a fireman carry, obscenely glad that the blond was so lanky and light, despite having almost a foot of height on her. The missing arm probably helped, too, though she wasn't so pleased about that part. "Dammit, I wish I could hear you like gran, papa, and Arthur can," she muttered, sighing as she rushed off toward the van, headache forgotten in favour of making sure Arthur lived.  
  
She didn't have time to worry about Lewis at that moment, as much as she wanted to go back up the path and look for him. She'd get Arthur to a hospital, then come back for Lewis, she swore it. She was sure he'd be on board with that plan of action, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Vivi never does get back to the cave. Turns out she actually does have a mild concussion that she was too in shock to properly notice and then Arthur nearly dies three times over the course of the night and she can't bring herself to leave the hospital while one of her boyfriends is in critical condition. By the time Arthur's stable again and she can attempt to go looking for Lewis, she's sure he wouldn't even be at the cave anymore, so she doesn't go back.
> 
> She's both right and wrong at the same time. Lewis' body is still there, but Lewis' ghost has been gone for a while, already plotting his revenge against the person he thinks murdered him.
> 
> TBH, this chapter was just an excuse to show how the team were with each other before the cave.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back in the present, time passes. Lewis comes to truly regret his choice to not help Arthur.

Upon returning from the hospital after an almost two-month stay, Lewis began to notice trends. Vivi and Arthur didn't talk much when he was lucid, but every other day, something or other would trigger Arthur to shut down. Vivi would get home from work and find Arthur standing or sitting somewhere, staring into nothing, a void in his head.  
  
Once, Mystery had been outside doing his business and Arthur had been working on a new version of his arm when the switch flipped. He'd sliced his palm open on a tool and without thinking, Lewis had grabbed his hand and pulled it away before any more damage could be done. He'd even quickly treated the wound before blood could get everywhere. It wouldn't do for Vivi to come back and have to clean up a mess.  
  
Mystery had been looking even more suspicious after that, but Lewis found himself not caring about that. He was... concerned about Arthur's state. Not for Arthur, of course, but because of what it was doing to Vivi. Every time it happened, he could see her energy wane a little more. She wasn't the same bright Vivi anymore. This was tearing her up inside.  
  
And Lewis could have done something, according to Mystery.  
  
It had been a month since the incident with the tool, and Lewis had taken to hovering. Especially if Mystery wasn't paying close attention for whatever reason. Arthur had been having a good week and Lewis had noted Mystery and Vivi's guards lowering slowly. Lewis, however, had started taking notes of tells. It wasn't anything physical that he could tell. Not the way he moved or looked. If asked, Lewis couldn't explain it, only that they were obvious to him, and apparently only him. Arthur was going to check out again soon, and it was going to be a bad one. He needed to warn someone, and he was pretty sure Vivi wouldn't let him get a word in edgewise if she knew he was here. No, she was pretty close to her breaking point, he was sure. A person could only handle so much stress.  
  
He'd have to talk to Mystery, who Lewis was sure knew he'd been hanging about, watching. He tapped the dog on the back and as he'd thought, Mystery looked straight at him. <"I was wondering when you were going to speak to me,"> the dog said, tone wry. <"What do you need?">  
  
Lewis knelt, bring his skull level with Mystery's head. "Arthur's about to have a bad episode. Get him away from the tools," he whispered. Mystery's brows shot up.  
  
<"You can tell?"> he asked.  
  
"Yes."  
  
<"Good to know. Why didn't you say anything before? No, don't answer that. I don't think I want to know at this point,"> he sighed, then trotted off to bark at Arthur and tug at his pants.  
  
Arthur looked over with an inquisitive look before sighing and putting down his tools. Mystery tugged again and Arthur sighed again, clearly consigning himself to having to take a break in his work as the dog was being insistent. Lewis had to suppress an amused laugh at how put out Arthur looked at being dragged away. That look didn't last long. As Lewis suspected, the switch flicked and suddenly the Arthur that had replaced his and Vivi's Arthur disappeared. Lewis caught him as he stumbled, physically directing Arthur to the living room and sitting him down on the couch with a sigh of his own.  
  
<"You said this was going to be a bad one. How long do you think he's going to be like this, this time?"> Mystery asked. <"Is Vivi going to need to take him up to the hospital for this?">  
  
"...I don't know. He's gone deep, though. Might take him a while to claw his way out this time," Lewis replied with a shrug. He didn't even know how he knew this, just that he did.  
  
Mystery nodded. <"We'll give it a day before taking him to the hospital,"> the dog said, jumping up onto the couch to curl up next to Arthur.  
  
When Vivi got home, she was grinning, bright. "Arthur, Mystery, I'm home! You'll never gu-..." She cut off as she entered the living room and caught sight of Arthur, who was staring ahead blankly. "No. No, you were-..." Vivi's eyes welled up with tears, her expression shattered as she rushed across the room to begin shaking Arthur roughly. "Wake up! ARTHUR, YOU COME BACK RIGHT NOW!" she half screamed, half sobbed. He didn't respond, head lolling as she shook him. Mystery barked, grabbing Vivi's sleeve and tugging.  
  
<"Dammit, Vivi, hear me already! I know this is hurting you, but he can't help it!"> Mystery yelled, trying to be heard but Vivi was deaf to him, sobbing.  
  
"I can't... I can't _do this_ anymore. I wish you'd come back. I wish our Lewis was here. He'd know what to do. He'd never have abandoned you to this, no matter what you may have done. I... I thought I'd found some way of helping you, but you need to be _here_ , Arthur. I can't... I can't anchor you if you can't hear me..." Vivi whispered, no longer shaking Arthur but hugging him so tight that it must have hurt. It had to have hurt, but Arthur wasn't reacting.  
  
Lewis was no longer sure if he'd ever react again. Not their Arthur nor this new one... Not without help, anyway, and maybe he hated Arthur for what the blond had done to him, but Vivi needed Arthur. She needed him and she was about to lose him.  
  
Eventually, she'd cried herself out, and she pulled back, sniffling. Dead-eyed, she turned to Mystery. "W-watch him for me... I'm... I'm going to do more research... there has to be something I can do..." she murmured, turning and dragging herself off to her room.  
  
Once she was gone, Lewis dropped his invisibility for the first time in months. "I've seen enough. Too much, really. How do I help him, Mystery?" he asked quietly and the dog's head shot up, looking shocked.  
  
<"You want to help him?"> Lewis nodded. <"For his sake? Or her's?"> Mystery asked. Lewis looked away, brows furrowing in contemplation before he sighed.  
  
"Both. This... this wasn't what I wanted. And maybe if I can bring him back, I can get answers, too," Lewis admitted.  
  
<"Skewed motivations, but it should work. However, we're going to need to travel. We need to be somewhere familiar to the old Arthur if this is going to have any chance of working. We'll also need Vivi since she's part of your motivations. _You_ are going to be the one to go fetch her, though,"> Mystery said, giving the Lewis a pointed look.  
  
"She's gonna kill me. Double death," Lewis muttered.  
  
<"No, she isn't. Just tell her you changed your mind, that you're going to help Arthur. That should get you on her good side easily enough. She's a forgiving woman, if you remember,"> Mystery replied with a doggy grin.  
  
"Easy for you to say. The worst _you've_ done is stolen her turkey sandwich..." Lewis sighed. Best to get this over with, then. Nervous, he drifted down the hall to Vivi's room and knocked on her door.  
  
There was the muffled sound of something falling and then, "Arthur?!" and the door flung open, a watery smile on Vivi's face until she registered Lewis standing there, rubbing the back of his skull nervously. "...what do _you_ want? Come to get banished? I can do that for you pretty easily," Vivi snarled, voice cold as ice.  
  
"No, I... I changed my mind. I'm sorry I was such a jerk back at the mansion. I'm... I'm not asking for forgiveness. I just... want to save Arthur," Lewis said softly. Vivi's expression shifted, sceptical.  
  
"What brought on this change of heart?" she asked, voice still cold but a little more willing to hear him out at least.  
  
"I... I've been hanging around, watching for a while now. I... I wanted him to suffer but... not like this. I've been thinking about this for a while, wondering how best to reveal myself to you and Mystery so I could offer to help. But we're out of time now. Something needs to be done before he's lost. Mystery told me that I needed to get you and we need to go somewhere familiar to our Arthur," Lewis said, starting slowly, testing his words before it all came out in a rush.  
  
"Our." Vivi's expression froze, glaring. "Get _out_ , Lewis. I'll find a way to help him on my own," she hissed, trying to slam the door in his face. Without thinking, Lewis stopped it, one massive hand braced on the door.  
  
"Please, Vivi. I know you're mad at me and you have every right to be, but there's no time for this. He's... If we don't hurry, there won't be an Arthur to save anymore," Lewis pleaded, putting on his human facade to give her a face to read should she want to. He was serious. She stopped struggling to close the door, expression shifting to worried fear.  
  
"How long does he have?" she asked, voice shaking.  
  
"...I don't know. Maybe a couple days at best? At first, I just thought he was about to have a really bad episode and my only thought was to get him away from his tools, but once he went into it, it was a lot worse than I thought," Lewis explained only to get a surprised look from Vivi.  
  
"Wait. Was it you that bandaged his hand last month?" she asked. Lewis nodded. "...you've been looking out for him since the mansion?"  
  
"Kinda? At first, I'd just tagged along to get to enjoy seeing him suffer... but that lasted maybe a day or two and I really didn't know how I felt," Lewis sighed, looking away again as he stepped back away from the door. He was pretty sure she wasn't going to slam it in his face anymore.  
  
"Fine. You're not forgiven, but if you want to help save him, then we'll do it your way," Vivi said, stepping out of her room.  
  
"...well, more like Mystery's way. I don't know what I'm doing. I'm assuming he'll explain on the way," Lewis said, shrugging sheepishly as he fell into step beside Vivi.  
  
"You can hear him now," she muttered. It wasn't a question. She was also pouting. "Arthur could hear him, too. He tried so hard to keep that a secret from us, but I caught him talking to Mystery late one night. He looked like a deer in the headlights and was so scared I'd think he was crazy. I had to explain that I knew he could communicate. Gran and Papa were always translating him for me, since I've not awakened yet. It's kinda frustrating," she explained, then sighed as she stopped in the living room. "Well, Mystery? Where are we going?" she asked, then glanced at Lewis with a raised brow. Ah, he was to play translator now.  
  
<"Tempo. Kingsmen Mechanics. We all spent much time there and I imagine Lewis and Arthur spent a lot of their time there, too. Plus, that's where Lance is and he can help, too,"> Mystery said and Lewis parroted him.


	5. Chapter 5

The drive to Tempo was a long one, the town nearly five hours away with Vivi constantly driving ten over the speed limit. Lewis wasn't paying attention to that, though. No, his focus was entirely on Mystery, who spent the drive explaining everything that was needed of Lewis. It turned out there wasn't anything that Vivi or Uncle Lance could actually do. Just having them close by would be enough to assist.  
  
No, Lewis had the hard part. A deep dive into Arthur to manually piece him back together. Being in a familiar location with familiar people would help bring back the correct Arthur, rather than the pale shade of him that had taken his place, but Lewis would have to be selective about how he fixed him. Lewis was, under no circumstances, to allow Arthur to remember that night in the cave. Vexing, but Mystery was positive the memory would just break him again.  
  
Well, perhaps he could take a peek at the memory before trashing it? Then he'd have his answers, at least.  
  
Before he could ask, Vivi suddenly swerved sharply, letting out a tiny scream as she did so. Lewis and Mystery both looked up only to see a woman with blue, bark-like skin and white hair on the hood of Vivi's van. She looked crazed and had the largest garden shears Lewis had ever seen in hand, raised above her head. They came down on the glass hard enough to crack it.  
  
<"...well, fuck."> Mystery muttered, though the look of terror on his face was at odds with the almost calm way he'd spoken. Without thinking too much about it, Lewis leaned into the front seat, unbuckled Arthur's seatbelt and dragged him into the back, curling around the smaller man's form protectively. He would have done the same for Vivi if she hadn't been driving. The woman continued her attack on the window until Vivi slammed on the breaks hard enough to throw the woman off. She then hit the gas, swerving enough to avoid hitting the blue and white heap before flooring it even harder.  
  
"Hold onto your seats, boys! I'm giving this puppy a test run of how fast she can go!" Vivi called back. Mystery whimpered, hunkering down next to Lewis. In response, Lewis pulled the dog into his protective huddle, keeping both him and Arthur as safe as he could considering the back of the van had been converted into a living space of sorts and thus had no safety restraints.  
  
Vivi was driving wildly and Lewis was suddenly grateful that he had no stomach anymore. He was pretty sure he'd have been carsick if he'd still been living. His careful driving had been why he'd been allowed to drive Arthur's van and Vivi had never been allowed behind the wheel except in emergencies. Well, he supposed this probably counted as an emergency, so he'd forgive the crazy driving.  
  
Not that he had any right to tell Vivi how to drive her own van, in any case.  
  
Finally, Vivi slowed down before pulling over to the side of the road, turned off the van and slipped into the back. "Kingsmen Mechanics is literally right below us. How much can you carry?" she asked, looking down at Lewis.  
  
"Uh... I don't know? Are you asking me to carry you, Arthur, and Mystery down to the shop?" Lewis returned. Vivi nodded. "I can try," he said, floating up off the floor.  
  
"Good enough," the bluenette said, opening the side door for Lewis as he adjusted his grip on Arthur and Mystery, making sure he had them both secure before drifting out. Vivi paused only long enough to close the door and lock up the van before jumping up on Lewis' surprisingly solid back.  
  
"Okay, hold on tight," the ghost muttered, sounding a little strained. With Arthur and Mystery in his arms and Vivi clinging to his back like a barnacle, Lewis hovered over the guardrail and began drifting gently down the steep hill.  
  
"Can't you go any faster?" Vivi questioned, impatiant.  
  
"Forgive me, Queen Vivi, for not liking the sensation of falling after literally falling to my death," Lewis grumbled back, though he didn't look back at Vivi as she flinched.  
  
"Er... sorry. I-"  
  
"Don't worry about it. That was uncalled for," Lewis said quickly, speeding up a little, though probably not as much as Vivi would have liked. The steepness was already unpleasant and the only reason he could even bring himself to traverse this was because he could float.  
  
"Still, I'm sorry. You've had it rough too, and... I was unfair. Here and back at the house," she admitted, squeezing him a bit tighter.  
  
"I'm sorry too. For not helping when I had the chance back at my mansion. You were right. That... wasn't like me," Lewis said with a sigh, but then shook his head as they reached the bottom of the hill finally. "Can we talk about this later?"  
  
"Oh, yeah, of course!" Vivi said, startled as she realized that, yeah, this wasn't exactly the time or place to be having heartfelt conversations. She released Lewis, dropping to her feet, then took Mystery, setting him on the ground, too. "Right, what do we need to do?" she asked, following as Lewis drifted closer to the building where Arthur's van was clearly parked. It was under a protective tarp to shield it from the elements, but Lewis could see the familiar garish orange paint peeking out where the tarp was skewed a little.  
  
"Just stay close and keep an eye on Arthur," Lewis said, offering her a small smile as he set Arthur on his feet. The blond just stood there, as he tended to without direction when he was like this. Then, Lewis vanished in a small flash of magenta fire.  
  
Lewis blinked. Possessing Arthur had been much easier than he'd even guessed. He could feel him, a vague impression somewhere deep, but on the surface like this, all he was doing was piloting Arthur's body with zero resistance. He needed to go deeper. Taking a deep breath to settle his own nerves, he stepped back and dove.  
  
It was a strange sensation, like he was split. On one side, he was still able to control Arthur's body, seeing and sensing the world around him. A link to the outside if he were to call it something. On the other, it was like he was being pulled deeper and deeper, like a piece of metal being attracted to a magnet. Except, it wasn't that. It was Arthur. Weak and barely there, a call for help, for someone to pull him out of the depths. Lewis reached out and-  
  
His hand curled around the fragments of a ruined star-shaped locket. Somehow, he knew this was the representation of Arthur's soul, just like his own anchor could be called that. It was in pieces, fragmented and shattered like glass, though not a single piece cut him. "Oh, Arthur... I've got you..." Lewis whispered, cupping the ruins of who Arthur had once been. This wasn't about helping Vivi anymore. Arthur had suffered enough, and Vivi was right. He wouldn't wish this on his worst enemy, let alone someone he'd loved. Still loved, if he was being honest with himself... and it was long past time he did that. No matter what Arthur had done, whether he'd wanted to hurt Lewis or not, that was in the past. It couldn't be changed.  
  
This would be hard, but he was confident he could fix it... and even if he hadn't been, Mystery believed he could do it, so he had to believe as well.  
  
However, before he could start, he was distracted by yelling. Protectively cupping Arthur's soul, he turned the majority of his attention back outward... and just in time, too. That blue-skinned woman was back, and she was menacing Vivi with her shears, which had apparently tripled in size? "Oh, you have _got_ to be kidding me..." Lewis muttered, only to be surprised at hearing his own voice layered over Arthur's in an oddly dissonant way. Okay, that was creepy... and gave him the oddest feeling of deja-vu he'd ever felt. But there was no time to consider that as he split his attention more evenly, keeping an eye on the outside in case he needed to do something... like maybe dodge... while also starting the process of piecing Arthur back together. Multi-tasking was harder than it seemed it was going to be as the first click brought with it memories. Memories from Arthur's point of view, no less. They felt important and he realized he wasn't going to be able to do this while there was a danger of Arthur getting hurt.  
  
He didn't even know how long he'd been caught up in Arthur's memories, because while he'd been distracted, a giant fox with eight tails had replaced Mystery and Vivi was sitting astride his back, a baseball bat in hand that was putting off an icy mist.  
  
Actually, no, wait. That was _Vivi_ putting off that mist and she had a manic sparkle in her eyes that told Lewis she was working off some aggression that sorely needed working off... and the blue-skinned woman, who was growing flowering vines from her arms, was the target. Lewis cursed, dodging back away from a stray bunch of vines, stumbling as Arthur's much smaller size and missing arm caught him off balance. He needed to get somewhere safer. He couldn't leave Arthur. Not right now, but he also couldn't fight while in Arthur's body... or could he?  
  
Focusing, he let part of himself leak out, his arm (in a much smaller size, more fitting to Arthur) forming where Arthur's should have been. Grinning, he tried forming a fireball in his hand and when it worked, he chucked it at another batch of vines that got too close. The tree woman paid him no mind and kept her attention on Vivi and Mystery. Good. That just made it easier to burn vines, clearing out a ton of them and making it easier for Vivi and Mystery to move. Eventually, Vivi and Mystery had her cornered, ice stopping up her arms and preventing her from regenerating them. Lewis relaxed, retreating back to Arthur's van. With the tree woman incapacitated, he could focus on what he needed to be doing.  
  
This time, when he sunk down, he tuned out the outside world and focused entirely on Arthur. Piece-by-piece, his soul was restored, each one bringing with it a new memory, things Lewis knew, things he didn't. Like just how long Arthur had been in love with him and his panic as he realized he'd been falling for Vivi, too. Just how happy he'd been when Lewis and Vivi ganged up on him to ask him out.  
  
There was so much it was almost overwhelming. Finally, there were only a small handful of pieces left. Several of the fragments were acid green instead of Arthur's gold. He kept those pieces off to the side, resolving to deal with them once he was done with the rest. He had a feeling he knew what those were and he was almost dreading dealing with them.  
  
But finally, that was all that was left. Setting the main piece aside, he focused on the green fragments. The memory of that night, fuzzy like an old TV filled his mind's eye. Going into the cave. Splitting up. Something attaching to Arthur. Oh. That was what Mystery had meant when he said Arthur hadn't wanted to hurt him. He'd had no say in the matter. Lewis pulled away from the memory. He didn't need Arthur's perspective of having pushed him. He'd seen enough to know he'd done Arthur a great wrong by blaming him. Lewis sighed, his hand lighting up in a blazing pink fire, burning the memory of that night from the fragments before fitting them in where they belonged, restored to the pure gold of the rest of Arthur's soul.  
  
Completed, the representation of Arthur's soul started beating softly and steadily, the space around him seeming to come to life. '...L-lewis...?' Arthur's voice echoed around him and Lewis closed his eyes, smiling.  
  
"Yes. I'm here, Arthur, and I'm sorry," he replied.  
  
'...sorry? For what?'  
  
"I suppose it doesn't matter right now. How are you feeling?"  
  
'...tired. There's something... I th-think Vivi's calling...'  
  
Lewis blinked, tuning back into the world to hear Vivi frantically calling his and Arthur's names. "You're right. Come on, let's go see her. She'll be happy to see you, too," Lewis said, then pulled away from Arthur, taking form next to the blond, who swayed and almost fell like a puppet with his strings cut. Lewis caught him and Arthur offered a shaky smile of thanks before turning to look over at Vivi... who was standing in front of a huge dome of ice, panting. On the inside was a massive black shape and Lewis could hear muffled snarling. Mystery was nowhere in sight. "Vivi, are you okay? Where's Mystery and what in the world is that?" Lewis asked in a rush, scooping Arthur up and hurrying over. There was blood staining the side of her sweater and skirt, and her scarf was laying on the ground a few feet away, soaked in blood.  
  
"I'm... I got cut, but I'm fine. Mystery got hurt badly protecting me and... and I thought he was d-dead," Vivi started, voice breaking on the word dead. "But then... he suddenly healed, but..." She paused, glancing over her shoulder at the dome. "That's Mystery in there. He tried to attack me, but I trapped him. It should hold for a while while we figure out what to do."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wondering where Lance is in all this? Well, he's not home, that's where. The timing is huuuuugely different from canon. For one, it's still daytime, though edging into evening, so any staff would have gone home by now and with Lance out, the shop was entirely empty. He was still in Tempo, though, so close enough to matter.
> 
> The feeling of deja-vu Lewis got from hearing his voice layered over Arthur's was actually from back in the cave, when Arthur was possessed by ???, though he can't place it because he only heard ??? laughing. That and the slight echo in Arthur's voice could have been attributed to them being in a cave.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An Interlude.

Somewhere off in the desert outside Tempo, a large, heart-shaped seed landed hard on the sand. Undamaged, it started growing, roots delving down, down, down, until they encountered water with traces of life. It drank deep, the seed first growing a small tree which shot up and up until it was the height of a small child, the seed itself being hidden within the main body of the tree. Then it grew branches shaped like arms and hands and it's thickest roots sprouted up out of the ground, forming stilt-like legs.  
  
In a matter of maybe twenty minutes, a tree child had formed and she blinked open her eyes. Long white hair draped over her body, shifting with her as she looked around. Off in the distance, she could feel the cold magic that had subdued her before and she felt grateful for it. Something had been wrong with her. A taint had gripped her, making her hunger for her father's lifeblood. Now she was free of that taint, purified by the warrior's cold and the ghost's fire.  
  
However, not all was right. She could feel her father's magic, twisted and wrong. More wrong than the taint that had gripped her. He was wrapped up in the warrior's cold, keeping him trapped, but who knew how long that would last. She needed to return to her father. Perhaps she could help the warrior remove the taint from her father's heart. Maybe if he knew she was okay, that would give him the strength to fight the taint.  
  
Letting out a soft breath, the tree child dove underground, using the magic of the earth to travel quickly. She could only hope that she'd arrive in time to help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very, very short, but I had a sudden inspiration for Shiromori, so I needed her to return in a much more friendly form. So, we get tree-child!Shiro. She's adorable and her colours are much softer than the older Shiro. Her skin is robin's egg blue and her flowers are a pale, pastel pink. She has no makeup and all her lines are much softer. Height-wise, she probably comes up to Vivi's chest, and that's including the small tree on top of her head. Her hair reaches to about her knees, and she has a lot of it. It's like a curtain. She needs a hair cut and some clothing. lol
> 
> This interlude also gives me time to finish chapter 6. lol


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, from here on, uploads may be more sporadic. I've been distracted by a couple other things that I'm working on, so writing progress is a little slower. orz

"Th-that's... Mystery?" Arthur asked slowly, voice rusty. He swallowed, frowning, but Vivi's eyes widened and a smile bloomed on her face.  
  
"Arthur! You're talking!" she practically chirped.  
  
"Yeah? W-why wou-wouldn't I b-be?" Arthur asked, confused. It was only then that things started to click that things were terribly wrong with this whole situation. He had no idea how they'd gotten to his uncle's place when the last thing he could remember was being parked outside a cave, laughing with Lewis, Vivi, and Mystery, and while being picked up by Lewis wasn't that strange, seeing as how he seemed to do it whenever Arthur was tired or in trouble and they needed to go fast, running without the feeling of being jostled WAS very strange. Confused, Arthur tried to raise his hand to his head, only for (what he thought was) the biggest thing to occur to him. His left arm was entirely missing and he could feel the pull of something at his shoulder.  
  
Wriggling a bit to free his right arm from where it was pinned against Lewis, Arthur reached up and felt something warm and hard through the fabric of his t-shirt. Even more confused, he looked down and rolled his sleeve back to find what looked like a metal cap of some sort. "...uh..."  
  
"Arthur...? Do you... not remember the past three years...?" Vivi asked slowly, then looked back up at Lewis, who shrugged.  
  
"There wasn't anything there for that time. I couldn't restore that," he said, shaking his head. "Sorry. I know it's a lot to lose. You'll have to fill Arthur in on that time," he added, gently setting Arthur down on his feet. Arthur swayed for a moment, still inexplicably tired out, but he managed to steady himself by grabbing Lewis shirt with his remaining hand. He saw motion above him, but he couldn't focus on that, too busy trying not to panic over the idea that he was apparently missing three whole years of his life along with missing his left arm. And what did Lewis mean when he said he 'couldn't restore that'?  
  
"Hey, Arthur... love, you need to breathe before you pass out," Lewis' gentle voice cut through his spiralling thoughts and he realized, yes, he was hyperventilating and getting dizzy from a lack of air. He closed his eyes, listening and mimicking as Lewis coached him through breathing properly. Ridiculous that he needed that. He hadn't had a panic attack in several years. Well, years that he could remember. Had he had any in that three years that he couldn't remember?  
  
"Th-thanks..." Arthur whispered once he could manage it. Lewis just smiled when Arthur looked up at him, eyes crinkling at the edges. Eyes that didn't look human. Human eyes didn't have black sclera with glowing pink irises. No, that wasn't even black sclera. He had no eyeballs at all. Just hollow voids where they should have been, glowing pink lights acting as his irises. Arthur gasped, jerking back in shock. "L-l-l-lewis?!"  
  
Lewis blinked, confused at the sudden reaction as Vivi burst into hysterical, manic laughter. "Y-your eyes, Lew," she managed to choke out through her laughter.  
  
"My eyes? ...oh, right." The giant of a man looked sheepish. "I forgot that ghosts can't disguise their eyes."  
  
"Gh-ghosts ca-... Lewis?! Wh-what's... what's g-going _on_?!" Arthur demanded, flailing.  
  
"I died three years ago, Art. Only recently found my way back to you two and it's all been a huge mess. The incident that killed me did a lot of damage to you, too. I managed to fix the damage, but the past three years weren't there at all for me to slot in. You... you broke further and I think what little of you there was for the past three years was lost in the process," Lewis explained. Before any of them could say anything more, there was a huge cracking sound and they all turned to see the ice dome had a huge crack in it.  
  
"Nope, you're staying right there, buster," Vivi said, tapping the dome with her bat. The crack sealed itself and the black monster inside yowled loud enough that Arthur was afraid the sound itself would crack the ice. Vivi glared, reinforcing the dome until it was so thick he could barely see any black at all.  
  
"...o-okay, lemme... l-lemme r-recap what I k-know... L-last I re-remember, we were- we w-were g-going to inves-in-investigate a c-cave. We m-must have gone i-in... and... and Lew-" He paused, struggling to wrap his head around the idea. "L-lew died?"  
  
"That's right," Lewis said softly.  
  
"And- and wha-whatever hap-happened h-hurt me, too?"  
  
"Yeah. You lost your arm and you... you were so broken, Artie. I think you probably spent about two-thirds of the past three years checked out. There were a couple times that it lasted so long I had to take you up to the hospital. We... we had to move to a town five hours away to minimize how much you were blanking out because anything to do with Lewis caused an episode, and sometimes even me or Mystery were enough to trigger one... and I tried so hard to help you, but nothing I found worked..." Vivi said, voice trembling. "Considering I apparently saw Lewis die and I can't remember it, the only guess I have was that it was a dying wish and whatever hurt you, whatever broke you, warped the wish and erased Lewis completely from your mind... but with Lew so ingrained in your life, that just made everything worse."  
  
"So... w-why can't I remember wh-what h-happened?" Arthur asked slowly, looking back at Lewis.  
  
Lewis sighed. "I purposely kept those memories from you. I can give you a summary of events later, but it's best not to remember it for yourself. It wasn't pretty. Also, Mystery and I were worried that actually remembering would undo the work I put into healing you... and if you break again, I'm not sure the damage could be repaired a second time," he explained. Arthur nodded.  
  
"O-okay. That- that makes se-sense. I... I guess w-we sh-should worry a-about this lat-later though?" he asked, turning his attention to the dome. "Any i-i-ideas?"  
  
Vivi groaned. "Not a one. Can either of you two hear him? I was starting to be able to hear his voice during the fight, but... now I'm not getting anything."  
  
Arthur shook his head, staring hard at the dome, worried.  
  
"No. Lemme try something, though. Can you make a small gap in the dome for me?" Lewis asked. Vivi nodded, tapping the ice with her bat again. A narrow fissure formed and Arthur yelped as Lewis vanished, a ball of magenta flames racing into the crack. Moments later, Lewis reappeared, stumbling as he reformed. "Well, that's a no. Turns out someone that's already possessed can't get possessed a second time," the ghost hissed, shaking his head... which was a skull now? And he was wearing a fancy suit? And his hair was made of fire, apparently.  
  
"So... Mystery is _possessed?!_ By what?!" Vivi demanded, dismayed. Lewis sighed.  
  
"I think... by the same thing that killed me and hurt Arthur so badly. Which means we're in for a world of trouble if we can't get it out of Mystery and soon," Lewis replied, a flash of fire reforming his more human appearance. "But, uh... looks like we have company," he then said, pointing to a pair of headlights that were coming up the road leading to the shop.  
  
Arthur squinted. "I think... that's Uncle Lance's truck?"  
  
"And suddenly Lance not coming out during that huge commotion makes a hell of a lot more sense," Vivi muttered, then looked around sheepishly. "Sooooo... how mad do you think he's going to be at the mess?"  
  
Arthur looked around too, blinking and arching both brows as he noticed the mess. "What a-actually di-did happen, any-anyway?"  
  
"Fight with a tree demon. Also, I think I mentioned this already, but I can hear Mystery now! Also, ice magic? Which is not something I expected to get upon my awakening, but hey, I can definitely deal with this. I'll never be hot in summer again!" Arthur snorted, barely holding back his laughter by reminding himself that this wasn't the time or place as Vivi turned to Lewis. "Hey, Lew? I know you aren't the biggest fan of heights now, but would you mind going to get the case for Arthur's robot arm?"  
  
"I'll do one better. I'll bring the van," Lewis replied, then drifted off. His feet weren't touching the ground.  
  
"W-wait. Ro-robot arm?" Arthur asked after a moment.  
  
"Yup! Oh, right, you don't remember... but you built yourself a robot arm. I figured you'd appreciate having it after Lewis helped you, so I brought it along with us. When we get back home, you can look over all the blueprints, notes, and manuals you wrote. Who knew they'd come in handy for yourself, huh? But... Arthur, I'm glad to have you back..." Vivi's smile was watery and Arthur smiled back, even though it was so weird hearing that sentiment. However, before he could respond, Lance's truck finally pulled in, the man in question hopping out and staring bug-eyed at the dome of ice. Clearly, it had taken his full attention, as he hadn't yet noticed Arthur and Vivi.  
  
"What the hell is this...?" the elder Kingsmen questioned.  
  
"Uh, I can explain?" Vivi replied, laughing sheepishly. "Also, hi. We came to visit," she added, slightly nervous smile turning to a majorly impish grin.  
  
"We?" Lance asked, only to then spot Arthur and frown. "Vivi, you-," he started, only to cut off as Arthur smiled and waved.  
  
"Hey, U-uncle Lance. I, um... a-apparently I'm b-better now? L-lack of- of arm a-aside. Th-though I don't r-remember b-being s-sick? And, um..." he trailed off, really hoping Lewis would get back soon as Lance was staring at him with big, watery eyes and he wasn't exactly sure how to deal with his uncle being emotional, considering the man generally kept his emotions to himself. He also really wanted something to grip and missing an arm was super inconvenient, really, so having a prosthetic would probably make him feel a little better about it.  
  
And then Lance was hugging him, grip tight enough to hurt. "U-um..." Arthur managed, awkwardly patting his uncle on the back, not sure how to take this at all as he aimed a 'help?' look up at Vivi... who was distracted by something, if her bug-eyed look off to the side was any tell. He looked over to where Vivi was looking just in time to see a void black van with neon magenta detailing silently pull to a stop less than ten feet away. Magenta fire swept over it, leaving behind a normal, sapphire-coloured van in its wake and Lewis stepped out, looking amused.  
  
"Okay, that was super cool! Also, did you fix my windshield, Lew? Because I could swear that was broken," Vivi said, eyes sparkling.  
  
"Yes, yes I did. Also, Uncle Lance, I think you're squeezing the life out of Art. He's looking a little blue," Lewis said with a chuckle. Lance released Arthur, looking highly conflicted when he looked back.  
  
"Okay, so my nephew has mysteriously recovered and you've apparently found Lewis, but-" Lance cut off, looking utterly baffled as he motioned to the van. "What in the world?"  
  
"Oh. Um. I'm a ghost?" Lewis replied, sheepish.  
  
"...a ghost," Lance replied.  
  
"Y-yeah, that, um... th-that kinda th-threw me, too," Arthur said, shaking his head, then heading towards the van after Vivi, who'd recovered and darted over. The side door was flung open and Vivi was soon hauling a long case out.  
  
"Here it is, Artie! Come take a look at your handiwork!" she chirped, setting the case down. Curious, Arthur knelt next to it and carefully popped each latch before flipping open the case. He didn't really know what he was expecting when Vivi told him he had a robot arm, but it wasn't what he found. The arm was sleek, made of many, many slim metal plates, layered like the scales of a reptile. It was honestly pretty cool, but really unimaginative at first glance. He could already see ways he could improve it visually, but still, it was impressive.  
  
"I made th-this?" he asked, looking up at Vivi.  
  
"Yeah! I was really surprised, honestly. It took you a long time, especially with the fact that you had to work with the doctors on the artificial nerves. Here, lemme help you get it on!" Vivi said, grinning as she knelt next to Arthur, carefully lifting the arm from its case while Lance and Lewis watched.  
  
It took a little bit of fiddling and a surprised yelp and flinch from Arthur when the arm was properly fitted into the port, but eventually, it was locked in place. The motors kicked on and Arthur blinked, flexing his new left hand. "O-oh, that's so w-weird. I ca-can... k-kinda f-feel that? I-I'm guess- guessing th-there's some b-built-in sensors..." he muttered, inspecting the limb from the new angle as he moved it. It wasn't as easy as moving his natural arm had been, the limb heavy and foreign, but he wasn't surprised at that. He'd get used to it. "So... um... wh-what a-are we gon-gonna d-do about th-that?" he asked, looking and motioning towards the ice dome where the vague black shape inside was clearly throwing itself against the ice. It was still hard to believe that was Mystery in there, but he'd believe Vivi.  
  
"Yes, what _are_ we going to do about the giant half-sphere of ice in the middle of my lot? And when are you going to explain what the hell happened here?" Uncle Lance cut in and Vivi laughed sheepishly.  
  
"Um. I'll explain after we deal with what's _in_ the ice. On that note... The only thing I can think of is an exorcism, but... how do we restrain a giant kitsune bent on murdering everyone?" she asked, sighing.  
  
"That's... a good question, considering he was breaking through the dome before..." Lewis muttered, shaking his head.  
  
Arthur looked down, right hand gripping his left arm as he thought. Vivi's new ice magic was a mystery to him, not knowing how it worked or what she could do with it. Lewis was a ghost, but possessing Mystery was out of the question, considering the kitsune was already possessed, and he didn't know what else Lewis could do with his ghost powers... Arthur himself was pretty much useless as the only special thing he had was a robot arm and he didn't know if the version of himself who built it had included any interesting functions. It didn't seem like it and he didn't know what that other him was like, so he could only guess. "M-maybe... we c-could ch-chain him d-down?" Arthur asked slowly. "U-uncle Lan-lance, do you, um... have a-any real-really th-thick chains?"  
  
"Hm... I might, but judging by the size of that black shape, how would we pin this... kitsune thing down long enough to chain it up?" Lance asked, arching a brow. Arthur frowned. That was a good point. He had no idea.  
  
"Maybe... maybe I could help?" a small voice asked, startling Arthur and the rest of the group into spinning around. About ten feet away, head and shoulders poking out of the loose dirt, was a child with pale blue skin, big dark eyes, and white hair. There was a blue and white tree with pastel pink flowers growing out of the child's head and all Arthur could do was stare as both Vivi and Lewis bristled, looking ready to fight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys? Why are you so freaking chill while Mystery is trapped in a giant ice dome? Poor kitsune. lmao


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ::sneaks in and drops a chapter::

"Wait, please!" the tree monster cried, ducking further into the ground so she was only barely peeking out from her hole. Vivi's eyes narrowed in a glare, diamond dust forming in the air around her. Nearby, she could just barely feel the heat of Lewis' flames and she glanced over just enough to see Lewis had placed himself between Arthur and the tree monster. Good. She'd never forgive him if Lewis let Arthur get hurt again.  
  
"Why should I wait? It's _your_ fault Mystery's like this in the first place!" Vivi bit out.  
  
"I... I know. I hurt Father and I hurt you. I was tainted and you and the ghost freed me of my tainted body. I wanted to thank you and I understand if you want me to go away after, but Father needs help. Please, let me help. Let me make it up to Father," she pleaded.  
  
Vivi was about to tell the tree monster to buzz off because honestly, they'd had enough help from that neck of the woods, but Arthur stepped around Lewis, making his way over to the tree monster's hole despite Lewis trying to stop him. Wordlessly, he held out a hand to the tree monster, and gingerly, she took it, letting Arthur help pull her out of her hole. She was much, much smaller than the monster that had attacked and hurt her and Mystery. She also didn't make a move against Arthur, simply smiling up at him with a grateful expression. ["Let her help, guys. I'm not sure what happened before, but she seems like she regrets it to me,"] Arthur signed, the motions somewhat sloppy with his robot hand, but he managed to get the message across just fine.  
  
Vivi sighed as Lewis relaxed, his flames settling as the tree monster (tree child?) didn't hurt Arthur, only holding onto his shirt as she hid slightly behind the blond, no doubt seeking some sort of shelter from Vivi's cold, seeing as the girl didn't appear to be wearing a scrap of clothing. "Fine. So, what did you have in mind, kid?" Vivi asked, relaxing her own stance. Arthur smiled, patting the child on the head, being careful of her head tree.  
  
"I heard you needed to bind Father down in order to get rid of the taint. I can hold him down for you while you work," the child said, tone nervous but sure. She clearly knew what she could do with her own strength. Vivi canted her head, considering.  
  
"Can you trap him before I lift my ice?" the blunette asked. The child nodded and turned toward the ice dome. Slowly, her motions clearly broadcasted, she sunk to her knees and pressed her fingers to the ground. Her hands shifted, fingers changing into vines that plunged into the already loose dirt. Barely heard from inside the dome was a loud, startled yelp and the black shape vanished from sight.  
  
"Okay, I have Father," the girl said, shooting a tentative smile up at Vivi. Vivi nodded and tapped her bat against the ice which fractured, then burst into shimmering ice dust. Pressed to the ground and snarling was Mystery. He was covered in vines and Vivi whistled lowly.  
  
"Wow, he is not moving, is he?" Lewis asked, sounding stunned at just how securely he was bound. Vivi nodded. She couldn't see any way for the fox to get any leverage to thrash free. Still, she turned to look at Arthur, who was admittedly way more observant. He was already staring hard at the bindings, head tilted and right hand gripping at his metal arm.  
  
"Arthur? Is he secure?" Vivi asked.  
  
"I d-don't s-s-see an-any weak, um... weak p-points," Arthur replied, speaking slowly before grinning at the tree child. "G-good j-job," he said to her, releasing his arm in order to gently ruffle her hair. She beamed up at him, happy with the praise just like a normal kid would be.  
  
"...okay then. Right," Vivi breathed, approaching Mystery. The fox tried thrashing but the only thing he could do was wave his tails. He reminded her of an angry cat wrapped in a blanket and held tight. All he could do was hiss and spit, but even that was restrained, his muzzled held closed with three thick vines. "Don't worry, Mystery... we'll save you, I swear," she said softly, resting her hand between his ears. "Even that tree monster came back to save you. She's half the size and seems infinitely nicer, but she's here. Keeps calling you 'Father', so I guess there's something you've kept pretty well hidden, huh?"  
  
<"...Shiro... mori...?"> Vivi startled, hearing Mystery's voice. It was faint and weak, but she heard it. Judging by the startled sounds from Arthur, Lewis, and the tree child, they heard it too. Mystery's head was forced to the side so that he was looking at the tree child. Vivi's hand never left his head, scratching gently between the ears as the child (Shiromori?) offered Mystery a shaky smile.  
  
"Yes, Father. You and your friends saved me. Now it's my turn to help save you," Shiromori said. Mystery's mismatched main eyes closed for a moment, the middle one remaining open but narrowed and glinting dangerously as it locked on Shiromori. The black fox then started to attempt thrashing against his bonds again, though he once again got nowhere. The thick vines barely shifted at all.  
  
"Sh-shiromori? Th-that's y-your na-name?" Arthur asked the tree child. She nodded, smiling up at Arthur.  
  
"Yes. That is the name Father gave me when I was born. You may call me Shiro if you wish," she responded.  
  
"O-okay... Shi-shiro, how l-long can you ho-hold him?" Arthur asked. Shiromori made a considering sound, canting her head slightly.  
  
"As long as I need to, I suppose," she finally replied, shifting her vines again when one around Mystery's right forepaw looked to be coming loose.  
  
"Good to hear. We might need as much time as we can get," Lewis said, sighing. Vivi could understand that sentiment. She really had no idea what to do exactly. Exorcisms relied on the exorcist believing in the faith they were using against the demon, and that was the huge problem. Despite being into all things paranormal, she didn't believe the crap most religions spilled. Lewis and Arthur were also lacking in the faith department, so they needed to find some other way.  
  
"Ugh! The one time being religious would actually help!" Vivi cried, throwing up her hands and startling a laugh out of Arthur.  
  
["Too bad on that. Where are all your ritual books?"] Arthur signed, suddenly looking worried. However, the mention made Vivi grin.  
  
"Of course! You're a genius, Artie! I could kiss you!" she cried, darting over to the van. Less than a minute later, she was hauling out a bin full of books. "Artie, Lew, help me look for anything we can use!" she ordered. The boys looked at each other, then ventured over, soon joined by Lance.  
  
"Dunno what the fuck is actually going on, but you three could use an extra set of eyes, I'm guessing?" the older man asked, plopping down on the ground between Lewis and Vivi, seeing as the pair of them had crowded close to Arthur who looked more than happy with that arrangement.  
  
"Thanks, Uncle Lance! We could definitely do with a fourth pair of eyes on this," Vivi chirped, handing Lance a book. Lewis and Arthur took one each and soon enough, they were all buried nose deep in ritual books.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, dunno when the next one will be. I don't intend on stopping writing any time soon, though, and I certainly don't intend to leave this unfinished, so it'll come in time. I've just been a little busy lately.


End file.
